(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for combining light transmission with an article of clothing. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a kit and its method of use, where the kit contains one or more sources of illumination, one or more supporting devices for supporting each illumination source and one or more attaching devices. The attaching devices are employed according to the method in securing the supporting devices to an article of clothing where the supporting devices, once secured to the clothing, will support the illumination source on clothing thereby combining light transmission with the article of clothing. In the preferred embodiment the supporting device is designed to enable the illumination source to be easily removed from the supporting device and the article of clothing to which it is attached, or the attaching device is designed as a removably attachable attaching device whereby the supporting device and the illumination device it supports can be easily removed from the article of clothing for periodic cleaning of the article of clothing.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Either for safety or for entertainment purposes, there are situations where it is desirable to an individual to make their body more visible to others and/or make the body of their pet more visible to others. Examples of these situations include a child walking to school or waiting for a school bus in the pre-dawn hours of the winter months, a jogger jogging during pre-dawn hours, an individual walking their dog before sunrise or after sunset, or an individual that desires to add illumination to their body as part of a costume or for other similar entertainment purposes. Reflectors that reflect light have long been used for safety purposes on articles of clothing such as shoes, jogging pants and jackets and safety vests worn by highway work crews and others whose professions require them to be working along the roadways in dark conditions. However, these light reflective surfaces are typically permanently secured to the articles of clothing. Repeated cleaning of the clothing over time can have the effect of deteriorating the ability of the light reflective surface to reflect light.
It is has also been known to permanently secure a series of small electric lights connected by a length of wiring to an article of clothing such as pants or a shirt by sewing the length of wiring and the attached lights to the article of clothing. Again however, if it desired to clean the article of clothing it would be necessary to remove all of the thread holding the wiring and lights to the clothing in order to avoid the wiring and lights becoming damaged when the article of clothing is cleaned. Sewing the length of wiring and attached lights to the article of clothing and removing the sewing thread from the clothing to remove the length of wiring and attached lights each time the article of clothing is cleaned is very labor intensive and expensive.